BANCROFT    LIBRARY 


Idaho— Its  Meaning,  Origin 
and  Application. 


By 

JOHN  E.  REES 


Reprinted  from  Oregon  Historical  Quarterly 
VOL.  XVIII.  No.  2,  1917 


Portland.  Oregon 
The  Ivy  Press 

1917 


Idaho— Its  Meaning,  Origin  and 
Application. 

By  JOHN   E.   RBES. 

Considerable  speculation  has  been  indulged  and  much 
thought  expended  regarding  the  word  ''IDAHO";  its  origin, 
meaning  and  the  manner  in  which  it  came  to  be  applied.  Other 
writers  have  expressed  opinions  and  published  their  knowl- 
edge concerning  this  word  or  name,  creating  rather  an  exten- 
sive literature  on  the  subject;  while  both  the  wise  and  the 
otherwise  have  guessed  at  its  meaning.  My  object  in  this 
article  is  an  endeavor  to  assemble  this  information  and  offer 
an  explanation  of  the  word  from  the  light  of  other  facts  per- 
haps not  yet  known  and  at  any  rate  not  yet  published.  These, 
it  seems  to  me,  will  give  a  fairly  good  interpretation  of  the 
word. 

"Idaho"  has  been  so  nicely  explained  and  elaborated  so  pro- 
fusely by  the  poetical  and  idealist,  that  Idahoans  feel  proud  of 
a  name  which  signifies  such  a  noble  and  expressive  thought 
as  the  "Gem  of  the  Mountains" ;  and  whatever  the  word  may 
have  originally  meant,  this  is  its  meaning  to  us  now,  and  one 
not  to  be  now  molested.  It  is  not  my  wish  or  purpose  in  this 
article  to  disturb  this  meaning  nor  to  detract  one  iota  from  its 
inspiring  sentiment,  but  simply  to  offer  a  version  of  the  matter, 
for  history's  sake,  from  my  knowledge  of  the  Shoshoni  Indian 
language,  gained  by  forty  years'  residence  near  the  Lemhis, 
one  division  of  the  Shoshoni  tribe  and  among  whom  I  was 
Indian  trader  for  fifteen  years. 

"Idaho"  is  a  Shoshoni  Indian  exclamation.  The  expression 
from  which  the  word  is  derived  is  heard  repeated  as  often, 
perhaps,  in  a  Shoshoni  Indian  camp,  in  the  early  part  of  the 
morning,  as  is  heard  the  English  expression,  "It's  sun  up," 
repeated  in  the  home  following  the  early  dawn.  The  word  is 
contracted  from  a  meaning  which  requires  much  writing  to 
correctly  express  it  in  English.  Those  who  are  used  to  trans- 


lating  languages  readily  understand  the  difficulties  of  this 
labor,  which  at  times  becomes  almost  an  impossible  task.  The 
word  "Idaho"  consists  of  three  component  parts,  each  of  which 
must  be  analyzed  to  correctly  understand  its  derivation  and  the 
idea  thereby  conveyed.  The  first  is  "Ee,"  which  in  English 
conveys  the  idea  of  "coming  down."  This  syllable  is  the 
basis  of  such  Shoshoni  words  as  mean  "raining,"  "snowing," 
etc.,  which  words  when  properly  translated  would  be,  "water 
coming  down,"  "snow  coming  down,"  etc.  The  second  syllable 
is  "Dah,"  which  is  the  Shoshoni  stem  or  root  for  both  "sun" 
and  "mountain,"  the  one  being  as  eternal  and  everlasting  to  the 
Indian  mind  as  is  the  other.  The  third  syllable,  "How," 
denotes  the  exclamation  and  stands  for  just  the  same  thing  in 
Indian  as  the  exclamation  mark  (  !)  does  in  the  English  lan- 
guage. The  Shoshoni  word  is  "Ee-dah-how,"  and  the  Indian 
thought  thus  conveyed  when  literally  translated  into  English 
means,  "Behold!  the  sun  coming  down  the  mountain." 

The  mere  word  does  not  indicate  much,  for  it  is  composed 
of  simple  syllables,  the  significance  of  which  requires  pages 
of  written  English  to  correctly  convey  the  idea  which  this 
exclamation  suggests  to  the  aboriginal  mind.  Every  one  who 
has  lived  in  a  mountainous  country  has  observed  at  sunrise 
the  rim  of  sunlight  coming  down  the  mountainside,  as  the 
sun  was  rising  in  the  opposite  direction.  This  is  the  Shoshoni 
"Ee-dah-how."  It  can  only  occur  in  and  among  the  moun- 
tains which  is  represented  by  the  English  thought,  "the  lofty 
mountains  upon  which  the  morning  breaks."  Also  it  can  occur 
only  at  those  times  when  the  atmosphere  is  still,  clear  and 
bright,  elements  producing  that  invigorating  and  exhilarating 
feeling  which  only  high  mountainous  countries  possess. 

In  the  imagination  this  sunlight  on  the  mountainside  can  be 
interpreted  to  mean  "Sunshine  Mountain,"  or  "Shining  Moun- 
tain," and  the  rim  of  sunlight  can  also  represent  the  "Diadem 
on  the  Mountain,"  while  a  peculiar  sunlit  peak  could  be  imag- 
ined a  "Sun-Crowned  Peak,"  or  a  brilliant  display  of  sunlight 
upon  a  snow-capped  mountain  where  the  rays  of  sunshine  are 


refracted  into  their  natural  colors  may  convey  to  us  the  thought 
or  image  of  the  "Gem  of  the  Mountains" ;  but  when  the  word 
is  uttered  in  a  Shoshoni  camp,  at  early  dawn,  the  hearer  knows 
that  a  rim  of  sunlight  is  coming  down  the  mountainside  as  the 
sun  is  rising  in  the  opposite  direction,  and  that  it  is  time  for 
him  to  be  up  and  at  the  labors  of  the  day ;  just  as  much  so  as 
a  person  hearing  the  English  expression,  "It's  sun  up,"  knows 
that  the  sun  has  risen  in  the  sky  and  he  should  be  up  and  at 
work. 

The  idea  conveyed  by  "Ee-dah-how"  may  be  a  kind  of  sun 
worship  as  contended  by  some,  but  it  appears  to  me  to  be  no 
more  so  than  is  the  English  expression,  "It's  sun  up."  This 
exclamation  expresses  to  the  primeval  mind  a  confidence  in 
the  continuance  of  nature,  for  the  sun  has  returned  to  replen- 
ish all  things,  and  this  display  on  the  mountainside  is  the  evi- 
dence; and  to  the  Indian  mind  this  exhibition  of  an  eternal 
sun  making  its  first  appearance  upon  an  everlasting  mountain 
denotes  a  stableness  worthy  of  his  attention  and  is  his  signal 
to  arise,  as  he  habitually  does  at  the  first  appearance  of 

"Ee-dah-how."  tiwicfoit  Ubracy 

The  effect  which  day  and  night  might  have"  had  upon  the 
habits  of  primitive  man  is  a  subject  within  the  province  of  the 
anthropologist.  However,  we  are  informed  that  civilized  man 
is  ofttimes  influenced  by  custom  survivals  and  will,  long  after 
the  necessary  fact  for  a  certain  action  has  ceased,  continue  to 
act  as  if  it  were  still  in  existence.  Whatever  might  have  been 
the  reason,  in  times  past,  we  know  and  realize  that  the  expres- 
sion, "It's  sun  up,"  has  a  meaning  to  the  majority  of  mankind 
of  an  influence  which  the  rising  sun  has  upon  his  actions.  The 
emphasis  in  this  expression,  "Ee-dah-how,"  is  placed  upon 
the  "Dah"  syllable,  as  it  is  the  keynote  to  the  utterance,  for  the 
eternal  sun  arrayed  upon  the  everlasting  mountain  is  the  splen- 
or  which  the  speaker  wishes  to  especially  impress  upon  his 
hearer.  The  Indian  has  a  name  for  sunrise,  sunset,  morning 
and  evening,  but  "Ee-dah-how"  conveys  the  idea  of  a  begin- 
ning or  renewal  of  natural  phenomena  and  the  sunrise  is  the 


symbol,  while  other  parts  of  the  day  follow  in  sequence  only 
and  do  not  attract  the  same  attention,  sentiment  or  acknowledg- 
ment. 

The  Shoshonean  Indians  were  the  third  family,  in  the  extent 
of  territory  occupied,  of  the  fifty-five  that  formerly  inhabited 
the  United  States.  The  Shoshoni  are  one  tribe  of  this  great 
Shoshonean  family  of  which  the  Comanche  are  another.  The 
two  tribes  speak  almost  the  same  language,  varying  only  in 
dialect ;  their  traditions  are  very  similar  and  they  readily  con- 
verse with  and  understand  each  other.  Ethnologists  consider 
the  Comanche  an  offshoot  of  the  Shoshoni.  It  was  not  many 
years  ago,  geologically  considered,  when  they  lived  adjacent 
to  each  other  in  Southern  Wyoming,  from  which  place  the 
Shoshoni  were  gradually  beaten  back  by  other  Indians  into 
the  mountains,  while  the  Comanche  were  forced  southward. 
So  that  the  first  rush  of  miners  to  Pike's  Peak  in  1858  and 
what  afterwards  became  known  as  Colorado,  found  this  tribe 
within  this  territory  and  located  especially  along  the  Arkansas 
river.  The  country  was  at  that  time  a  part  of  Kansas.  Here, 
also,  they  came  in  contact  with  the  "lofty  mountains  upon 
which  the  morning  breaks,"  which  were  quite  numerous  and  in 
commanding  evidence.  As  all  the  elements  were  present,  it 
was  no  wonder  that  they  found  the  expression,  "Ee-dah-how," 
a  familiar  one  in  this  new  Eldorado,  and  the  word  "Idaho" 
was  known  to  almost  every  one  and  was  said  by  all  who  had 
any  knowledge  of  it,  to  mean  "Gem  of  the  Mountains."  The 
first  permanent  settlement  made  by  those  hardy  pioneers  in 
this  new  territory  in  1859  was  named  for  this  Shoshoni  word 
and  called  "Idaho  Springs."  In  1861,  when  Congress  organ- 
ized this  new  territory,  "Idaho"  was  proposed  as  its  name 
which  should  have  been  applied  to  it,  but  the  Spanish  word 
"Colorado,"  which  referred  to  a  river  and  country  foreign  to 
this  new  country  and  which  had  no  application  whatever,  was 
selected  instead.  This  selection  was  suggested  by  Senator 
Henry  Wilson  of  Massachusetts,  who  was  afterwards  Vice- 
President  associated  with  General  Grant  in  the  Presidency,  and 


who  was  chiefly  responsible  for  the  naming  of  Colorado,  Idaho 
and  Montana. 

The  next  heard  of  this  word  was  when  "Idahoe"  was  applied 
to  a  steamboat  launched  at  Victoria,  B.  C,  in  the  fall  of  1860. 
It  was  built  for  the  Yale  Steamboat  company  to  run  upon  the 
Fraser  river,  and  was  so  called  by  one  of  the  owners  for  his 
former  home  in  Colorado,  "Idaho  Springs,"  which  was  an 
Indian  word  signifying  "Gem  of  the  Mountains,"  but  the 
name  of  the  steamboat  was  soon  changed  to  "Fort  Yale,"  and 
it  was  afterwards  blown  up  by  a  boiler  explosion. 

The  permanent  settlement  of  Idaho  territory  began  with  the 
discovery  of  gold  at  Pierce  City,  on  Oro  Fino  creek,  in  1860. 
It  was  then  a  part  of  Washington  Territory  and  the  name 
"Idaho"  was  not  known  or  applied  at  that  time.  The  rush  to 
these  mines  was  made  principally  by  the  Columbia  river  route 
and  so  extensive  did  the  traffic,  carried  on  by  river  boats, 
become  that  a  company  was  formed  called  the  Oregon  Steam 
Navigation  company,  of  which  Colonel  J.  S.  Ruckel  was  a 
stockholder.  One  of  the  steamboats  constructed  by  this  com- 
pany,, plying  on  the  Columbia  river,  was  called  the  "Idaho," 
and  launched  in  1860.  Mr.  George  H.  Himes,  curator  of  the 
Oregon  Historical  Society,  informs  me  that  he  heard  Col. 
Ruckel  tell  Mr.  D.  C.  Ireland,  who  was  the  local  newsgatherer 
of  the  "Oregonian,"  in  answer  to  the  question  as  to  the  origin 
and  meaning  of  the  name  "Idaho,"  which  he  had  applied  to 
this  steamboat,  "That  it  was  an  Indian  word  meaning  'Gem 
of  the  Mountains,'  and  that  he  got  it  from  a  Colorado  friend 
who  was  interested  with  him  in  mining  operations  in  that 
state,  and  he  thought  the  name  very  appropriate  for  a  steam- 
boat that  ran  on  a  river  like  the  Columbia  which  penetrated 
a  range  of  mountains  like  the  Cascades."  Thus  the  name  be- 
came transferred  to  the  great  Northwest,  and  as  Joaquin 
Miller  said,  "The  name  was  familiar  in  5,000  men's  mouths 
as  they  wallowed  through  the  snow  in  '61  on  their  way  to  the 
Oro  Fino  mines." 

However,  the  word  became  corrupted  by  these  miners  into 


"Idao,"  but  happily  through  the  writings  of  the  poet,  Joaquin 
Miller,  the  bard  of  the  Sierras,  the  proper  orthography  was 
restored  and  for  the  first  time  in  history  an  attempt  was  made 
to  give  the  origin  and  meaning  of  this  name  and  to  publish 
it  to  the  public.  Mr.  Miller  said,  "I  was  riding  pony  express 
at  the  time  rumors  reached  us  through  the  Nez  Perce  Indians 
that  gold  was  to  be  found  on  the  headwaters  and  tributaries  of 
the  Salmon  river.  I  had  lived  with  the  Indians  and  Col.  Craig, 
who  had  spent  most  of  his  life  with  them,  often  talked  with 
me  about  possible  discoveries  in  the  mountains  to  the  right,  as 
we  rode  to  Oro  Fino,  and  of  what  the  Indians  said  of  the  then 
unknown  region.  Gallop  your  horse,  as  I  have  a  hundred 
times,  against  the  rising  sun.  As  you  climb  the  Sweetwater 
mountains,  far  away  to  your  right,  you  will  see  the  name 
Idaho  written  on  the  mountain  top,  at  least,  you  will  see  a 
peculiar  and  beautiful  light  at  sunrise,  a  sort  of  diadem  on 
two  grand  clusters  of  mountains  that  bear  away  under  the 
clouds  fifty  miles  distant.  I  called  Col.  Craig's  attention  to 
this  peculiar  and  beautiful  light.  'That/  said  he,  'is  what  the 
Indians  call  E-dah-hoe,  which  means  the  light  or  diadem  on 
the  line  of  the  mountains.'  That  was  the  first  time  I  ever 
heard  the  name.  Later,  in  September,  '61,  when  I  rode  into 
the  newly  discovered  camp  to  establish  an  express  office,  I 
took  with  me  an  Indian  from  Lapwai.  We  followed  an  Indian 
trail,  crossed  Craig  mountain,  then  Camas  Prairie,  and  had  all 
the  time  E-dah-hoe  Mount  for  our  objective  point.  On  my 
return  to  Lewiston  I  wrote  a  letter  containing  a  brief  account 
of  our  trip  and  of  the  mines,  and  it  was  published  in  one  of 
the  Oregon  papers,  which-  one  I  have  now  forgotten.  In  that 
account  I  often  mentioned  E-dah-hoe,  but  spelt  it  Idaho,  leav- 
ing the  pronunciation  unmarked  by  any  diacritical  signs.  So 
that  perhaps  I  may  have  been  the  first  to  give  it  its  present 
spelling,  but  I  certainly  did  not  originate  the  word." 

In  1858  the  territorial  legislature  of  Washington  created  a 
county  within  this  territory  which  contained  all  lands  north 
of  the  Gearwater,  east  of  the  Columbia  and  west  of  the  Rocky 


mountains.  It  was  named  Shoshone  for  the  largest  tribe  of 
Indians  in  this  section  of  the  country,  and  in  1861,  when  the 
population  in  the  mines  demanded  it,  another  county  was 
formed  including  all  lands  lying  south  and  west  of  the  Clear- 
water  and  named  Nez  Perce  for  the  next  largest  tribe  of 
Idaho  Indians.  The  rest  of  the  Idaho  territory  was  formed, 
in  1862,  into  the  largest  county  ever  created  within  the  state, 
embracing  all  lands  lying  south  of  Nez  Perce  and  east  of  Snake 
river  and  called  Idaho  county  in  recognition  of  this  word.  In 
1863,  Boise  county  was  created,  so  that  Idaho  had  four  coun- 
ties in  existence,  formed  by  the  Washington  legislature,  when 
the  territory  was  organized. 

Hon.  John  Hailey,  Idaho's  state  historian,  in  his  "History 
of  Idaho,"  says,  "The  organic  act  passed  by  Congress  and 
approved  by  the  President  March  3,  1863,  creating  and  organ- 
izing a  territorial  government  for  the  people  residing  within 
and  those  who  might  come  hereafter,  in  certain  limits  and 
boundary  lines  of  territorial  lands,  gave  to  that  territory  the 
name  Idaho.  Various  reasons  are  given  for  the  origin  of  the 
name  Idaho.  By  some  it  is  claimed  that  it  is  an  Indian  name. 
One  story  is  that  some  miners  had  camped  within  sight  of 
what  is  now  Mount  Idaho.  In  the  morning  they  were  awakened 
by  the  Indians  calling  'I-da-ho*  and  pointing  to  the  rising  sun 
just  coming  over  the  mountain,  hence  the  term  'The  Rising 
Sun.'  Another  is  that  the  name  was  taken  from  a  steamboat 
built  by  the  late  Col.  J.  S.  Ruckel  to  run  on  the  Columbia  river 
in  the  early  days.  This  boat  was  named  The  Idaho.  W.  A. 
Goulder,  one  of  the  oldest  living  (now  dead)  pioneers  of  Idaho, 
saw  this  steamer  on  the  Columbia  in  1860  and  noticing  the 
name  asked  the  meaning  and  was  informed  that  it  was  an 
Indian  word,  'E-dah-hoe,'  and  stood  for  'The  Gem  of  the 
Mountains.'  Frederick  Campbell,  one  of  the  pioneers  of  the 
Pike's  Peak  excitement,  says  that  the  word  Idaho  is  an  Ara- 
paho  Indian  word  and  that  in  Colorado  a  spring  was  named 
Idaho  before  the  word  was  known  in  the  Northwest,  and  that 
it  was  even  suggested  for  the  name  of  Colorado." 


Col.  William  H.  Wallace  was  delegate  in  Congress  from 
Washington  territory  when  the  bill  was  passed  in  1863,  organ- 
izing, from  the  eastern  portion  of  Washington,  a  new  territory, 
which  was  named  Idaho.  Mrs.  Wallace  was  in  Washington, 
D.  C.,  at  the  time  and  her  account  of  the  episode,  which  was 
afterwards  published  in  the  Tacoma  Ledger,  is  as  follows: 
"I  may  refer  with  pride  to  my  connection  with  the  establish- 
ment of  the  territory  of  Idaho,  at  the  expiring  days  of  the 
session  of  Congress,  1862-3.  Quite  a  delegation  was  present 
at  Washington  city  who  favored  the  division  of  Washington 
territory,  which  then  included  all  of  Idaho  and  Montana  west 
of  the  Rocky  mountains,  extending  as  far  south  as  the  northern 
line  of  California  and  Nevada.  It  was  an  immense  region  and 
contained  South  Pass,  the  great  entrance  of  Oregon,  Washing- 
ton and  California,  by  the  great  immigrant  route.  The  Colonel 
was  overjoyed  at  the  assured  passage  of  the  bill,  which  he  had 
in  charge  and  his  friends  who  had  assembled  at  his  rooms 
joined  with  him  in  conferring  upon  me  the  high  privilege  of 
naming  the  new  territory.  I  answered,  'Well,  if  I  am  to  name 
it,  the  territory  shall  be  called  Idaho,  for  my  little  niece,  who 
was  born  near  Colorado  Springs,  whose  name  is  Idaho,  from 
an  Indian  chief's  daughter  of  that  name,  so  called  for  her 
beauty,  meaning  the  'Gem  of  the  Mountains.'  Dr.  Anson  G. 
Henry,  the  surveyor-general  of  Washington  territory,  then  on 
a  visit  to  Washington  City,  was  in  the  room.  He  clapped  his 
hands  upon  his  knees  and  said  to  me,  'Mrs.  Wallace,  Idaho  it 
shall  be.'  The  evening  of  the  day  upon  which  the  bill  was 
passed  my  husband  came  home  and  said,  "Well,  Lue,  you've 
got  your  territory,  and  I'm  to  be  governor  of  it.'  A  short  time 
after  the  bill  was  signed  my  husband  was  appointed  its  first 
governor,  and  at  the  first  election  held  in  the  newly  organized 
territory,  he  was  selected  delegate  to  Congress." 

There  were  others  beside  Mrs.  Wallace  who  claimed  the 
honor  of  naming  Idaho  territory,  and  while  their  contributory 
suggestions  may  have  had  some  influence  in  designating  it,  yet 
the  true  history  of  the  application  of  the  word  to  this  particu- 

10 


lar  geographical  territory  for  political  administration  dis- 
closes the  fact  that  it  occurred  in  an  ordinary  way  and  that 
instead  of  any  sentiment  influencing  the  act,  it  was  simply  a 
result  of  legislative  enactment.  In  the  fall  of  1861,  Wallace, 
Garfield  and  Lander  were  candidates  for  Congressional  dele- 
gate from  Washington  territory  and  while  stumping  the  coun- 
try during  the  campaign  met  at  Pierce  city.  The  people  in- 
habiting this  section  of  the  country  were  so  far  from  Olympia, 
the  capital,  and  had  for  some  time  agitated  a  division  of  the 
eastern  part  of  Washington  territory ;  so  through  the  solici- 
tation and  request  of  these  people  each  of  these  candidates 
agreed  that  whoever  was  elected  would  favor  this  division  and 
every  one  agreed  that  "Idaho"  should  be  the  name  of  the 
new  territory.  That  this  agreement  was  carried  out  is  proven 
by  the  fact  that  Mr.  Wallace,  the  successful  candidate,  at  once 
had  introduced  in  Congress  a  bill  creating  the  new  territory  of 
Idaho. 

The  Congressional  history  of  this  act  shows  that  in  the  com- 
mittee to  which  the  bill  had  been  referred  three  names  were 
suggested,  namely,  Shoshone,  Montana  and  Idaho,  and  that 
in  the  bill  as  it  passed  the  House  of  Representatives  the  name 
of  "Montana"  was  applied  to  this  new  territory.  When  the 
matter  came  before  the  Senate  for  consideration,  the  bill  was 
modified  very  materially,  for  while  it  scarcely  included  what 
is  now  Idaho,  the  modified  bill  included  all  of  the  present 
states  of  Montana  and  Wyoming,  in  which  form  it  was 
approved  and  became  the  law.  Later  these  states  were  created 
out  of  Idaho.  Senator  Wilson  moved  to  strike  out  the  word 
"Montana"  and  insert  "Idaho"  in  its  stead.  To  this  Senator 
Harding  of  Oregon  agreed,  saying,  "Idaho  in  English  means 
'Gem  of  the  Mountains'."  Senator  Wilson's  amendment  was 
agreed  to  and  when  the  bill  went  back  to  the  House  it  was 
concurred  in  and  the  new  territory  was  henceforth  designated 
Idaho. 

Thus  Senator  Wilson  selected  the  name  Idaho,  whilst  Sen- 
ator Harding  was  instrumental  in  continuing  its  meaning. 

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How  the  Shoshoni  Indian  word  "Ee-dah-how"  was  eventu- 
ally transformed  into  the  English  word  "Idaho"  is  a  task  for 
the  etymologist ;  but,  whatever  may  be  its  etymology,  the  word 
"Idaho"  and  its  meaning,  "Gem  of  the  Mountains,"  are  for- 
ever fixed  as  correlated  terms  in  the  vocabulary  of  the  people 
of  Idaho. 


12 


